Lilian Helen Montagu (1873 - 1963)

Born 22 Dec 1873 in London, England

Ancestors

Died 22 Jan 1963 at age 89 in London,England

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Biography

Lily Montagu was the sixth of ten children born to Ellen Cohen Montagu (1843–1919) and Samuel Montagu (1832–1911). Her father, founder of Samuel Montagu & Co., was a self-made millionaire by 1871. He was a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1900 as the MP for Whitechapel, a poor district of the East End of London. In 1907, Montagu was raised to the peerage as Baron Swaythling.

She grew up in a pious Orthodox Jewish home, in an ethos of privilege and philanthropy, devoted to helping the poor and advancing Jewish institutions. Her eldest brother, Louis, was also a financier and political activist, founding the League of British Jews to lobby against the creation of the state of Israel. Another brother was Edwin, the Liberal politician, who married Venetia Stanley. Two cousins, a pair of brothers, also became Liberal MPs: Sir Stuart Samuel, 1st Baronet, a London Justice of the Peace, and Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, the High Commissioner for Palestine after the Balfour Declaration and eventually Home Secretary.

Lily Montagu was also influenced by Claude Montefiore, a reform-oriented philanthropist and scholar. Until the age of 15, she was educated at Doreck College, and privately educated thereafter.[1]

In 1893 she founded the West Central Jewish Girls Club[1] (which subsequently merged into the Jewish Girls' Brigade[2]). She was active in social improvement, particularly in respect to unemployment, sweat shops and bad housing.[1]

In 1901 and 1902, Montagu lay the groundwork for the establishment of the Jewish Religious Union in London. The Union set up the first synagogue in Liberal Judaism in the UK and helped found the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Following the retirement of Leo Baeck, Montagu served for a brief stint (1955–1959) in her 80s as president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, before handing the reins over to Solomon Freehof.

Sources

• Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Montagu

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21650

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-monta.htm

http://www.jewisheastend.com/lily.html

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/montagu-lily

http://www.thepeerage.com/p58981.htm#i589807